Swords of Heroes - Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
by ZenPenguin
Summary: Takes place in the Mystery Dungeon universe. Pretty standard story; Human wakes up one day as a Pokémon, doesn't remember anything about being human. Blah, blah, blah . . . . BUT! there is a twist. However, you'll just hafta read to find out what it is.
1. A Wish for Better

**A Wish for Better**

Fate works in mysterious ways. For the longest time, it seemed to be working against a girl named Sari. Her life was a total train wreck. Her parents wished she was never born and treat her like garbage, almost no one at school thinks she exists, and almost always seems to mess everything up.

Until one day, when fate decided to turn her in an unusual direction. . . .

* * *

The day before it happened, Sari was lying in the grass, waiting for the school bus to arrive. She always leave home before her parents woke up to go to work, so she wouldn't have to listen to them hound about how she should always be early to go to school/work since she never seemed to do anything right.

Little did they know Sari had quit her job as a busgirl at the restaurant down town. The boss was never pleased with her work and was paid only half the minimum wage she was supposed to get.

Once the bus finally did show, it rumbled right past her to come to the next stop a few blocks down. She could hear the kids howling with laughter as they passed by.

_Oh, screw you all . . . _she thought to herself.

She sighed, getting up to walk to school . . . again.

* * *

As she walked in, the stares in the classroom went on for miles. She simply ignored them and took he seat. She was thirty minutes late, the class was nearly over. Mr. Brunson gave her a sideways glance.

"Anyway, as I was saying, next week will be our monthly exam. I want everyone to study hard and do your best" Mr. Brunson said. He looked Sari's way again, showing a bit of concern.

The bell rang soon after, dismissing the class. Nobody left until showering Sari with spit balls. She barely did so much as flinch.

As she stood up to leave, Mr. Brunson called out to her. "Um . . . Sari?"

She could tell he was nervous, since he was the only person who cared enough to talk to her.

"Yes?" she answered.

"How are you holding up?" he asked, "You feeling ok?"

Her eyes darted from left to right; half thinking someone was paying him to talk to her. She hated herself every time she thought that, though.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I've endured this long enough to live with it" she replied.

"Well, I'm glad you're holding up ok, but . . ."

"What is it?"

Mr. Brunson looked pale as he worked up the courage to tell her what was up. "I'm afraid . . . I've been fired."

"What?" She felt a lump form in her throat.

"It's alright; it's not your fault. The principal thinks I'm not keeping on top of my work. I'll be leaving for England in two days."

Sari didn't know what to say. The only person who even liked her was going away. "I'll miss you" she told him.

He smiled. "You hang there. Things will get better. Something good's bound to happen to you."

She smiled back. The corners of her eyes welled slightly. The bell rang again and the next class poured in the room. She bid Mr. Brunson a final good-bye as she left, fighting to keep tears back.

The rest of the day was spent in regret.

* * *

Sari returned home around eight p.m., not that anyone noticed or cared she had been out. She slipped past her coach-potato of a dad in the living room and snaked past her gossip-crazed mom in her room. She slinked into her own room, closing the door as quietly as possible.

She dove onto her bed and crawled under the covers wishing she could just disappear.

_Please take me away, _pleaded Sari. _Take me to a place where I'll have meaning in life. To live a much better life than I do now. That's all I want. . . ._

She dozed off; completely unaware that someone or _something_ had heard her wish.

* * *

_Is that her?_

_Is she the one who shall save us?_

_She must be._

_This is the one._

_This is the one who shall save us._

_She wishes for a new life?_

_Then she shall have it._

_Who are we to deny her this wish?_

_She shall have this new life._

_She shall be the one who saves us._

* * *

A young Gothorita stood outside a large wooden fortress, pacing back and forth nervously.

_Do it! Just . . . do it! _she thought.

She stood on the cobblestone platform in front of the fortress gate.

_"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected! Who is it?! Who is it?!"_ a pair of voices shouted.

The Gothorita jumped. _"Wah!"_

"It's a Gothorita! It's a Gothorita!" the voices shouted.

"Ah! I can't do this!" she squeaked. She turned and ran off the platform.

The Gothorita bolted behind a tree, sighing as she sat down. She clutched a large white orb in her small hands, rubbing its smooth surface.

_I thought my personal treasure could help me, but . . . _she thought.

She shook her head. _No. I just can't do it! I'm nothing but a huge wimp. . ._

She sighed, stood up and walked down the dirt path away from the fortress.

The Gothorita came to a lakefront and sat herself by the bank. She gazed over the water's surface, watching a group of Pidove play with a Tympole. As she watched the Tympole dive into the lake, she noticed something odd on the other side of it.

Curious, she wondered over, focusing hard on the figure. Once she was close enough, she gasped and rushed the rest of the way there. She was stunned by the sight before her.

It was an unconscious Pokémon lying face down in the grass.


	2. A Strange Change Part 1

**A Strange Change**

_What's going on? Where am I? I feel a light breeze. There's someone calling me. I wonder who it is. _

"Hey! Are you ok? Hello? Hey!"

Sari woke to someone calling her and trying to shake her awake. Her vision was fogged, so she couldn't quite tell who it was.

Suddenly, Sari was slapped across her face several times.

"Yow! Ok! Ok! I'm up!" she yelped, springing to her feet.

She turned to face an unexpected sight. The person standing before her wasn't a person at all.

It was a Pokémon. It was a foot taller than her, sporting four white bows, two on each side of its head. Its body was mostly black, with a purple face. Two white bows ran the length of its body and unlike most of its kind, its eyes were green.

"Are you ok?" it asked.

"Ahhh!" shrieked Sari, "A talking Gothorita! That's impossible! A talking Gothorita!"

She fell backwards, catching a glimpse of her feet. They weren't really feet, they were flippers!

"You sure are strange for an average Oshawott" chuckled the Gothorita.

"_I'm a what?!_"

Sari bolted to the lake's bank, leaning over to face the water's surface. She froze in shock. Sure enough the Gothorita was right, Sari was an Oshawott.

She had the brown nose, the white head, freckles, even the scalechop on her tummy.

"_Wahhh! I've become an Oshawott!_" shrieked Sari. She was so freaked, she started to hyperventilate.

"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down!" cried the Gothorita. It pulled back on Sari's shoulders, forcing her to sit where she stood.

Sari's breathing began to steady, the Gothorita handing her a Pecha Berry. She ate it hungrily.

"You ok now?" the Pokémon asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks" answered Sari.

"What were you hollering about?"

"What?"

"You know. You yelled something about becoming an Oshawott."

"Oh. Well it came as a shock to me, since I'm a human."

The Gothorita looked puzzled. "Human?"

Sari scratched the back of her head, laughing nervously. "Um, never mind," she chuckled. Sari let her eyes wonder to get an idea of her surroundings.

"Uh, where exactly am I?"

"We're on the banks of Phione Lake" answered the Gothorita, frowning slightly for the change in subject.

_Phione Lake? Strange, _thought Sari, _does this world have only Pokémon?_

"Um . . ." piped the Gothorita.

Sari took notice and turned back to face the little Psychic type Pokémon. It appeared to have something on its mind. Sari cocked her head to one side, proceeding to find out.

"What is it?" she asked.

The Gothorita hesitated a bit, showing her shyness by tracing the ground with her foot. "Um, my name's Gwen. What's yours?"

Sari took note, "Oh! Nice to meet you, Gwen. I'm Sari."

"Sorry?" Gwen said, puzzled.

"No, not _sorry_, Sari. S-a-r-i, Sari" Sari corrected.

"Ooooh! Sari!" giggled Gwen. Sari giggled too. It was quite rare of someone to mispronounce her name and then laugh at their mistake.

"Um, sorry about using my Wake-Up Slap on you," apologized Gwen.

"That's ok," replied Sari, "It got me up didn't it?"

Gwen smiled. She wasn't sure why, but there was something about this strange Pokémon that she really liked.

She suddenly felt a presence behind her before being shoved forcefully to the ground.

"Hey!" Sari shouted, as Gwen toppled over.

"_Oops_, clumsy us. Heh, heh, heh!" cackled a Pokémon sarcastically.

Sari glared. One out of two Pokémon stood before her. The second was hovering just above the first, its heart-shaped snout twitching occasionally. The Pokémon that had shoved Gwen had a smug grin on his face. He appeared to be carrying a long log of petrified lumber. The other smiled wide, its front tooth clearly visible.

"What's the big idea, pushing her like that?" demanded Sari.

"She was in my way," replied the Timburr, propping himself against his hunk of wood and pretending to examine his nails, "Chickens are always getting in my way."

Gwen cheeks went red as she shot the Pokémon a deathly look. Sari threw a similar glare. The Timburr merely snickered in response.

"Hey Brick, look what I found" said the second Pokémon. The Woobat used Psychic to lift a fairly big white orb in the air for his partner-in-crime to see. The Timburr's eyes widen with interest.

"Hey! That's mine!" Gwen shouted, pouncing to snatch back her treasure.

The Woobat lifted the orb out of reach, Gwen face-planting on the ground. The blue furred Pokémon then teased Gwen with the orb like a Skitty with a piece of string. Frustrated, Gwen lashed out, throwing a Shadow Ball at the Woobat.

The Pokémon was quick to dodge and unleashed a powerful Air Slash to counter. As the blades of air came towards their intended target, a jet of water crossed the wind's path, blocking the attack.

Surprised, Gwen, the Woobat, and the Timburr (who had been watching from the sidelines) turned towards the attack's source.

Sari was standing firm, aggression burning in her eyes

"Sari, was that you?" asked Gwen.

Sari didn't answer. Instead she removed her scalechop, a blade of water appearing at its tip. She charged and slashed at the Woobat, knocking him clear out of the air.

"Hey!" shouted the Timburr. He picked up his lumber and took a swing at Sari's head.

It hit its mark, sending Sari to the ground by Gwen's feet. Gwen quickly stood up boiling with anger.

"Just who do you two think you are?!" she demanded.

The Timburr snickered. "The name's Brick" he answered.

"And I'm Stomp," said the Woobat, "Short fur, 'If I had feet, I'll stomp all over you.'"

Sari's head throbbed as she managed to stand, her scalechop lying by a nearby stump.

_Uh . . . my head's killing me,_ she thought,_ but I can't back down now,_ _not while I have a friend to defend._

"Gwen," whispered Sari, "I have an idea."

Gwen listened carefully as her friend explained her plan. She nodded, ready for action.

"Hey, Stomp!" called Sari, grabbing the Woobat's undivided attention. "It's too bad you don't _actually_ have feet. But even if you did, you couldn't stomp all over me even if you tried!"

"I could too!" fumed Stomp, a vain on his head bulging a bit. Loosing focus on the orb, he took off after Sari. She looked back and pulled at her face, taunting him to keep up.

Gwen turned to face Brick who had started to make his way to the orb. Using her Psychic, she quickly moved the orb out of reach. Brick tried using his lumber to knock the orb away.

"What's the matter? Can't reach?" teased Gwen.

Brick fumed. He swung his lumber, fiercely trying to get at the treasure. Gwen giggled, enjoying her payback. Sari soon rejoined the two with Stomp following close behind, exhausted.

"We're not leaving until you hand over that treasure!" declared Brick.

"Do you even know what it is?" Sari asked.

Brick hesitated, "N-no but, we still want it if you have it!"

Sari snickered. Suddenly, as she took a step forward, she was struck with an unusual image in her mind.

She saw herself with Gwen, arguing furiously with Brick and Stomp. Then from out of nowhere, a huge Pokémon popped up shouting, _"WHAT'S GOIN' ON OUT HERE?!"_

The vision ended as suddenly as it came, with Brick kicking dirt at Gwen.

"Hey!" shouted Sari, "Knock it off or we're gonna get in trouble!"

"Heh, so? We're just gonna bolt right before _that_ happens" said Stomp.

"But there's a Mandibuzz here who's gonna yell at us to stop!"

Brick laughed. "Ha! There's no one here who can-"

As if on cue, a Mandibuzz emerged from the bushes nearby shouting, **_"WHAT'S GOIN' ON OUT HERE?!"_**

Everyone jumped at the sheer size and volume of the irritated Pokémon.

"Well?" she asked.

Sari recovered fast and calmly stepped forward.

"I'm terribly sorry, ma'am," Sari politely apologized, "My friend and I were just minding our own business, when these two," she gestured toward Brick and Stomp, "came along and started harassing us."

The Mandibuzz looked Sari over, acknowledging her sincerity. She then turned her attention to the two bullies.

"You two," she began, "I thought I told you to keep to yourselves and not cause any trouble. What do you boys have to say for yourselves?"

Brick and Stomp looked down at the ground.

"We're sorry, Miss Hornbeak" replied the twosome.

"Don't apologize to _me_" said Miss Hornbeak, gesturing to Sari and Gwen.

"We're sorry" they told the girls flatly. The pairs shot each other a "this isn't over" glare.

"Good, now get!"

Brick and Stomp sped off into the forest under the Mandibuzz's watchful eyes. She sighed and rested a feathered wing to her head.

"Those two're always causin' trouble round here," she said.

Sari and Gwen exchanged puzzled looks.

"Um, thanks for helping us" said Gwen, picking her treasure off the ground.

"Don't mention it" Miss Hornbeak replied with a smile. She took to the air, leaving the girls alone by the lake's bank once more.


	3. A Strange Change Part 2

"So you know you're supposed to be a human who somehow became a Pokémon, but you hardly remember anything about being human?" asked a puzzled Gwen.

"Yeah, something like that" answered Sari.

She and Gwen were walking along the forest path of Tumbletree Forest with the sun gradually setting in the sky. Sari had wanted to see more of her surrounds to which Gwen was happy to oblige.

"I meant to ask, what exactly is that?" Sari asked, noticing Gwen caressing the white orb.

"I not sure really, I just found it one day after running fro- I mean, _walking _through the forest" Gwen answered. She gave a nervous grin before suddenly turning her head away.

Sari raised a brow, puzzled by the sudden change of words.

"Running from what?"

Gwen blushed feverishly. She held her eyes shut, trying to fight the urge to admit why she ran. Sari noticed this and decided not to push the issue. Instead, she turned her attention to the right where she saw something a bit out of place on one of the trees. Gwen stopped in front of it.

"What's that?" Sari asked.

Gwen giggled, "It's a rope silly."

The Gothorita gave it a tug and a rope ladder dropped down from among the leaves.

"Starter's first."

Guessing that that meant Sari, she grabbed the ladder and started climbing with Gwen not far behind. Once they reached the top, Sari gasped.

The view was breathtaking. The tree house had been built on one of the few tallest trees in the forest. Sari had scurried to the house's balcony, taken by the view of the forest at such a height.

"Pretty cool, huh?" said Gwen as she pulled the ladder up.

"I'll say. Do you live here?" asked Sari.

"Yep" chirped Gwen. She tied the rope to a branch before join Sari on the small balcony. The Gothorita sighed as her eyes settled on a large wooden fortress in the distance.

The little Oshawott noticed the glum look on her new friend's face. Although she didn't want to make her feel embarrassed, Sari knew there was something Gwen needed to get off her chest.

"Alright, out with it" said Sari, taking on a parental tone, paws on her hips as she turned to face her friend.

Gwen felt her legs go numb as she looked the Oshawott's way. It became clear there was no point in hiding the truth any longer, but Gwen chose to act oblivious.

"Out with what?" she asked cheekily.

"You and I both know you weren't just walking through the forest. Something happened, what?" replied Sari, raising a brow.

Gwen sighed as her cheeks turned red. "Ok, I wasn't walking through the forest when I found my treasure, I actually was running."

"Running from what?"

Gwen turned back to the scenery, gesturing towards the fortress. "You see that building over there?"

Sari shifted her questioning gaze to where Gwen pointed. She kept it there as the Gothorita spoke again.

"That's Embrose's Guild of Rescue & Exploration. It's where Pokémon go to train to become great explorers and rescuers. That's what I had been running from."

Sari snapped her attention back to Gwen, greatly puzzled. "Why? Didn't you want to join?"

"Yeah, I did" Gwen traced the outline of a wooden plank in the floor with her foot. She drifted back inside, sitting down at a table nearby. Sari followed and sat across from her, waiting for her to reply.

"So how come you ran from the guild if you wanted to join it?" Sari asked.

Gwen stared at the bowl of berries on the table, looking ashamed. "I was afraid. I've tried so many times to work up the courage to go inside, but I always chicken out at the last minute and run away." She looked away with her eyes shut tight, tears beginning to weld at the corners. "I'm nothing but a coward . . ." Gwen muttered.

Sari frowned. She rose from her seat and moved to Gwen's side. She placed a paw on her small black hands. Gwen looked up at her Oshawott friend, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Now hold on," Sari began, "you are not a coward." She relaxed her gaze, but kept a firm tone as she spoke to the Gothorita. "A coward wouldn't have stuck around at the first sign of trouble. A coward wouldn't have stood their ground against a couple of bullies. A coward wouldn't have had the strength or will to take back what was rightfully theirs."

Gwen slowly caught on to what Sari was driving at. It amazed her to some degree, since she hadn't gotten this kind of pep-talk since she was just a Gothita. It was as if Sari was talking from personal experience.

"What you did took a lot of guts" said Sari giving an encouraging smile.

Gwen couldn't help but smile back. It was nice to have someone to talk to. Heck, it was nice to know that she now had someone who could possibly help her overcome her fears and shyness. Somehow, Gwen had felt much braver when she was around Sari, despite the fact she had only know her for a day.

"Thanks, Sari" said Gwen.

Sari yawned lazily, "Anytime."

The lighting had gotten very dim as Gwen glanced out one of the tree house's windows. Very few stars had appeared in the sky. Sari yawned again as she sat down on the floor.

"Do you have anywhere to stay tonight?" asked Gwen as she got up from her seat.

Sari paused a minute before replying. "Not really, no."

"Well, you're more than welcome to stay here."

"Really?"

"Sure."

Gwen moved across the room to what looked like hay and dead grass poorly woven together to make a makeshift mat. A slightly oversized blanket had been tossed on a corner of it along with a few wads of wool, probably used for pillows.

"It's not much," said Gwen, "but it'll get you through the night."

Sari waddled on top of the mat and lightly patted her feet on it. It was surprisingly smooth and a little soft. She lied down and rested her head on a piece of wool as she closed her eyes.

_It's like I'm lying in a field of dandelions . . ._

Gwen giggled a little as she watched her new friend enjoy the comfort. She sat down next to Sari with her legs crossed as she cleared her throat a little.

"Um, Sari?" she said.

"Hmm?" went Sari as she opened an eye to look at the Gothorita.

"Would you . . . could you, um, maybe . . . form an exploration team with me?"

Sari opened both eyes and frowned a bit at this. "An exploration team?"

"Yeah. We could go on adventures, _find treasure_, and help other Pokémon in need. And maybe we'll learn something about why you became a Pokémon."

"Really?" Sari went wide-eyed at this. Perhaps someone in this world could give her some answers as to why she became a Pokémon.

_What do I have to lose? I've got nothing better in mind._

Sari paused a bit before sending Gwen a wide grin. "Yes. I'd like to form an exploration with you." She yawned as she closed her eyes again.

Gwen went wide-eyed as her mouth shaped into a huge smile. She lied down on her back as she pulled the blanket over both of them. She stared at the ceiling for a bit before shutting her eyes, chuckling a little to herself.

"Thanks, Sari" said Gwen.

"Don't mention it" yawned Sari.

"Good night" said Gwen.

But by then Sari had already fallen deep asleep. Gwen gently sighed, smiling to herself as she too, drifted off to sleep.


End file.
